Manufactured by Israeli Military Industries, for Magnum Research. A Gas-operated massive motherfucker.

Generally known to be one of the most powerful pistols available today, the Desert Eagle has obscene stopping power. Coming in .357, .41 .44 Magnum, .50 Action Express and .440 Cor-Bon calibres, the Desert Eagle fires big-bore rounds. Popularized by films, television and video-games, e.g. Half-LifeCounter-Strike, the Desert Eagle is in fact avoided by everyone from counter-terrorism squads to terrorists themselves. It is about twice as heavy as the average pistol and approaches 11 inches in length - a normal pistol is about 6-7 inches. The Desert Eagle has considerable recoil and its only real use is sport-hunting, due to its single-shot accuracy, and sheer power - it could probably stop a bear dead in its tracks. The .50AE, is half an inch in calibre and weighs 'only' about 19 grammes. It's relatively slow, however, which severely impacts on its performance as a longer-range weapon.

Only men of Arnold Schwarzenegger's physique can truly handle the Desert Eagle, especially when chambered in .50 Action Express.

Desert Eagle. Pretty cool gun. Finicky with ammo. Really does not like lightly loaded rounds. Mine does fairly well with the ammo I reload for it using starline brass, Rainier 335gr bullets, CCI-350 primers, and 29 grains (weight not individual grains) of H110 powder.

The percieved recoil is actually less than most .44magnum revolvers like my 44 Ruger Blackhawk. This is due to it being gas operated and especially due to its excessive weight. Those of you that say it will break your wrist have no clue what you are talking about. Don't buy into the hype. It's powerful for a handgun but it is completely controllable with practice.

It's not worth having if you don't reload as ammo is $1-$1.50 per round. I can load the above "recipe" for about $160 per thousand if I already have the brass which can withstand a dozen or more loadings.

It does serve a practical role as a hunting handgun but is probably rarely used as such.

You guys make some pretty retarded comments on your wisdon of the Desert Eagle.

A handgun origionally made in Israel, by IMI (who are also the makers of the Galil and Uzi). It is gas-operated, and comes in .357, .44, and .50 calibers. Even more powerful against living targets when loaded with hollow-point bullets, which expand when they hit the flesh, easily ahnialating the back of one's head if shot in the face.

Also, pre-pubescent assholes think that the Desert Eagle is an easy to hold weapon that gives next-to-nothing recoil (read: counter strike). However, the moment you hand them a Desert Eagle at a shooting range and they shoot just one bullet off they'll probably: A) Break their wrists from the recoil. -or- B) Break most of their face because they were holding the gun about as lightly as one would hold a BB/Pellet pistol.

Capacities:
.50 Caliber - 7 Rounds
.44 Caliber - 8 Rounds
.357 Caliber - 9 Rounds
...and for all you people who don't know what the hell caliber is, it's the diameter of the bullet. More caliber = more gunpowder = more power.

A gas operated, semi automatic pistol with a rotating bolt. It can be found chambered for the .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum,.50 Action Express, and .440 Corbon. A .41 Magnum model went out of production several years ago. Imported to U.S.A. by Magnum Research Inc.

Action movies and video games have helped make the Desert Eagle famous.

Despite the moronic ramblings of some of the other writers posted here, the Desert Eagle is an extremely powerful, relenting and highly accurate pistol capable of dealing massive amounts of damage due to it's large calibers. Adding to its great size and weight is the fact that it has a slide that travels rearward when reloading. This takes most "climb" out of the recoil and will put less snap on the wrists of a shooter than a revolver of the same caliber. What does this mean? Faster target acquisition for follow up shots. I have found the accuracy with a scoped 10" barrel from a supported firing position can be equal to many rifles at the distance of 100 yards. All in all, the Desert Eagle can support a variety of calibers and barrel lengths making it one of the most versitile handguns in production. Why did this gun become popular in movies and video games? Because it was, and still is, popular in the shooting world.

I can't say how they shoot in videos games, but desert eagles are fun IRL.